BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s track and field team is in second place after three days of the Southeastern Conference Championships at Bernie Moore Track Stadium, while the Lady Tigers are in seventh, but set the stage for a big run on Sunday by advancing well on the third day of competition.
The Tigers have 43 points after three days and trail Tennessee by a mere two points entering the final day of competition. The Lady Tigers picked up big points in the women’s long jump and competed in well in the sprints on Saturday.
Marcus Thomas got the men started off with a fourth place finish in the long jump with a personal best effort of 26-1 +. Melvin Lister won the title, breaking the Bernie Moore Track Stadium record with a mark of 27-10 +. The mark is a world leader.
LSU also got points from Chrisitan Nehme and Alex Forst in the shot put who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Nehme came up with a throw of 55-9 +, while Forst threw 55-5 +. Kenny Henry closed the night out with a seventh place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The Lady Tigers gathered two of the top four spots in one of the hottest competitions of the day, the long jump. Keisha Spencer recorded a major personal best, leaping 21-8 +, the fourth best jump in LSU history. Teammate Monique Freeman finished fourth with a leap of 21-0 +.
Both teams advanced well on the track Saturday, qualifying eight athletes for Sunday’s finals. Peta-Gaye Dowdie looked solid in the 100-meter dash, headlining a Lady Tiger lineup that won three of the four heats and advanced a trio of sprinters for Sunday’s final. Dowdie recorded the fastest time of the day, clocking an 11.27, while Sa’Donna Thornton won her heat in a time of 11.45 and Valma Bass won her heat in a time of 11.52.
Joyce Bates and April Sams both advanced to Sunday’s 100-meter hurdle finals with a time of 13.12 and 13.37 respectively.
On the men’s side, the Tigers put a pair of athletes in the 400-meter dash final, as Derrick Brew looked poised to defend his title, running the fastest qualifying time on the day, a 46.13. SEC Indoor runner-up Lueroy Colquhoun grabbed the last spot in Sunday’s final with a time of 47.77.
Greg Scott advanced to Sunday’s 110-meter hurdles final with a time of 13.92.
The Tigers will be looking for their highest finish since a second place finish at Gainesville in 1998 on Sunday, while the Lady Tigers will look to make a run at their ninth title overall, or get into the top three for the 15th time in 16 years.